Reproductive Psychiatry & Women’s Mental Health
For when your cycle, a pregnancy, a new baby, or menopause changes how you feel.
Psychiatry and therapy in Berkeley and by telehealth throughout California.
OUR APPROACH
You don’t have to sort it out alone.
Not feeling like yourself, and not sure why? Hormones are often part of the story, but rarely all of it.
We start with the whole picture. We look at how your symptoms line up with your cycle, pregnancy, postpartum, or perimenopause. Then we consider how they interact with sleep, stress, attention and ADHD, any past depression or anxiety, and your overall health.
We decide together. We lay out the benefits and risks of each option, medication or not, and help you choose what fits, including during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
We work as one team. Our psychiatrist and therapists collaborate closely, and with your permission, we coordinate with your OB-GYN, primary care clinician, fertility team, or menopause clinician.
Care is available in person in Berkeley and by telehealth throughout California.
WHEN WE CAN HELP
Which of these sounds like you?
Before Your Period: PMS & PMDD
Irritable, low, or anxious in the week or two before your period, then yourself again once it starts? Daily symptom tracking helps us tell PMDD apart from other conditions that flare before a period, so treatment fits what’s actually happening.
Thinking About Pregnancy
Thinking about pregnancy while taking medication? Pregnancy on its own isn’t automatically a reason to stop treatment that’s working. We review your specific medications, ADHD treatment included, alongside your history, and coordinate a plan with your OB-GYN or fertility team.
During Pregnancy
You can want this pregnancy and still feel anxious, low, or overwhelmed. We prioritize scheduling during pregnancy, offer therapy, medication, or both, and plan ahead with you for sleep and support after the birth.
Postpartum & New Parenthood
Crying most days, or too anxious to sleep even when the baby does? Postpartum depression and anxiety can begin any time in the first year. We offer telehealth, therapy, medication, and plans that account for breastfeeding.
Perimenopause
Losing your train of thought, rereading the same email, dropping balls you used to juggle? Perimenopause can affect focus, memory, sleep, and mood, often years before periods stop. It can also bring out ADHD you’ve quietly worked around for years. We look for both.
Menopause & Midlife
Night sweats disrupting your sleep, a shorter fuse, or trouble focusing at work? We treat mood, anxiety, and sleep, take attention and memory concerns seriously, and help you navigate changing roles, priorities, and relationships.
We also support women and couples through fertility treatment and pregnancy loss.
YOUR CARE TEAM
Psychiatry and psychotherapy, working together.
Our team includes a psychiatrist, a psychologist, and a clinical social worker. Your care may include psychiatric consultation, individual therapy, couples or family therapy, or a combination, depending on your needs and preferences.
Philip Bonanno, MD, MS
Psychiatrist
Dr. Bonanno brings advanced expertise in psychiatric medications and medically complex care to reproductive and women’s mental health. Double board-certified in psychiatry and consultation-liaison psychiatry, he completed his residency at Mount Sinai and fellowship at Stanford, and later worked at the Hallowell Todaro ADHD Center.
During residency, he sought out dedicated training with a reproductive psychiatrist embedded within an outpatient obstetrics clinic. His experience caring for pregnant and postpartum patients extends across outpatient and hospital settings, including labor and delivery.
He treats PMDD and supports women through pregnancy planning, pregnancy, the postpartum period, perimenopause, and menopause. He helps patients weigh the benefits and risks of medication during pregnancy and breastfeeding, considering both their mental health and their baby’s well-being. In midlife, he plans treatment around hormonal changes, medication interactions, and the broader health considerations of menopause.
Dr. Bonanno sees it as his responsibility to know the science thoroughly and the person in front of him just as well. He takes time to explain the evidence, understand each patient’s priorities, and collaborate with her other clinicians. His goal is for women to feel heard, informed, and supported by a psychiatrist who brings both precision and care to the decisions that matter most.
Gabrielle Anderson, PhD
Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Anderson is a clinical psychologist and Health Sciences Clinical Professor at UCSF with more than two decades of experience. She specializes in women’s mental health across the lifespan, including adolescence, early adulthood, pregnancy and postpartum, parenthood, perimenopause, and menopause.
She has particular expertise in ADHD and depression in women, with a special interest in how hormonal changes across the reproductive lifespan can affect mood, attention, and emotional well-being. Her work includes helping women with co-occurring ADHD and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), as well as women navigating the emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal changes that can occur during pregnancy and the postpartum period, perimenopause, and menopause.
Dr. Anderson is certified by the International Society of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (ISIPT) as a Trainer & Supervisor in Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) and teaches the method to other clinicians. IPT is an evidence-based treatment for depression, including during pregnancy and after birth, that focuses on the relationship between mood and interpersonal functioning. It is particularly well suited to helping people navigate significant life transitions. Treatment may focus on adapting to new roles and stages of life, improving communication and resolving conflict in important relationships, coping with grief and loss, and strengthening social connections and support.
Laurel Sherer, LCSW
Senior Psychotherapist
Laurel Sherer brings nearly 20 years of professional experience and a passion for women’s health informed by both her work and her own lived experience. She supports women navigating reproductive and midlife transitions, including IVF, pregnancy loss, pregnancy and motherhood, perimenopause, and menopause. Her relational, emotions-based approach offers space to explore shifts in identity, unfamiliar feelings, and changing relationships with themselves and others, along with grief, anger, ambivalence, and uncertainty about what comes next.
With a specialty in couples therapy, Laurel also helps partners navigate these experiences together, including different emotional responses, changes in intimacy, and evolving needs, boundaries, and expectations.
WHAT TO EXPECT
From your first inquiry to ongoing care.
Let us know if you are pregnant or postpartum so we can prioritize scheduling. New appointments are typically available within 1–2 weeks; our team will confirm current availability.
Inquiry & Fit
Tell us what you are experiencing and what you hope to find help with. Our team will help you explore psychiatry, psychotherapy, or both, and explain fees and next steps.
Understanding the Whole Picture
We go over what you’ve been noticing and when, along with your sleep, health and treatment history, relationships, and goals. We also talk through any medication questions and what matters most to you.
A Plan That Evolves With You
We discuss recommendations together and revisit them as your needs change. Care may include psychotherapy, medication, or both.
Common questions
Do I need to know whether it is hormones, ADHD, or something else?
No. You do not need to have the answer before reaching out. Understanding how hormones, sleep, mood, and attention fit together is part of the work we do with you.
Can I seek care before becoming pregnant?
Yes. Pregnancy planning is an opportunity to review your mental health history, medication questions, and the support you may want during pregnancy and postpartum.
Will pregnancy mean changing or stopping my medication?
There is no single answer for everyone. We review the potential benefits and risks of continuing, changing, or stopping treatment in light of your history and goals, and discuss options with you. Decisions are individualized and made collaboratively.
Can we discuss medication and breastfeeding?
Yes. We consider your specific medication, your mental health needs, feeding preferences, and relevant infant health factors.
Can I work with a therapist without taking medication?
Yes. Psychotherapy can be your starting point or your ongoing treatment. Individual, couples, and family therapy are available through our practice. If a psychiatric consultation may be useful, we can discuss that option together.
Can you work with my OB-GYN or menopause clinician?
Yes. With your permission, we collaborate with your existing care team. We consider psychiatric symptoms alongside medical conditions and current treatments, including hormone therapy managed by your gynecologist or menopause clinician.
Where can I receive care, and how soon?
Appointments are available in person in Berkeley and by telehealth throughout California. We offer priority scheduling for pregnancy and postpartum concerns, with new appointments typically available within 1–2 weeks. Our team will confirm the appropriate clinician, location, and current availability.
What are your fees, and do you accept insurance?
BAM Psych is a private-pay practice. Visit our Fees & Availability page, or contact our team to discuss fees before scheduling.
What if I’m having upsetting thoughts about my baby?
Many new parents have unwanted, upsetting thoughts or images of harm coming to their baby, including thoughts of causing that harm themselves. Having these thoughts does not by itself mean you want to act on them, and talking with a clinician can help you understand them and get support.
If you feel unable to keep yourself or your baby safe, there is immediate danger, or you or someone close to you notices confusion, hallucinations, or loss of touch with reality, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
If these thoughts are distressing or you’re unsure what kind of help you need, call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262) or 988.
Need help right now?
We are an outpatient practice. Do not wait for a reply from our practice in an emergency.
Emergency: Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room if you feel unable to keep yourself or others safe, there is immediate danger, or you or someone close to you notices confusion, hallucinations, or loss of touch with reality.
The same applies to suddenly needing much less sleep without feeling tired, along with unusually high energy, racing thoughts, or a major change in behavior. Postpartum psychosis is a medical emergency.
Crisis or emotional distress: Contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call 988, text 988, or chat online. If you are unsure what level of help you need, a crisis counselor can help you find the next step.
Pregnancy and postpartum support: Call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262). Free, confidential support is available 24/7 in English and Spanish. This is a support line, not an emergency service.
Ready when you are.
Reach out and our team will help you find the right fit.